Last Hope
by VORTEX2016
Summary: In case of Z-ONE's failure, a plan was established early on. The memories of Z-ONE and his companions would be placed in someone, who would have lived his life up 'till that point on Earth, to make sure that humanity will be saved. But what can you do, when the only way to save the world and do what you were made for, is to erase everyone you hold dear, even your own sister?
1. Chapter 1: Waking Up

**A/N: It's been a LONG time since I've written something. I'm just gonna go straight off with the story, so, no introductions or anything.**

 _To 'you know not', if you're reading this – if you're still on , I wasn't sure whether you are still active or not, which is why I didn't send it to you for beta-reading._

* * *

Rua and Ruka were having breakfast, as they do every morning, in their flat.

"What do you want to do later?" asked Rua, before stuffing another spoon-full of corn flakes.

"Patty invited me to go watch a movie at the cinema. Maybe I'll do that," replied Ruka, before doing the same.

"I might go to Yusei later on. I want to ask him about a new strategy I'm thinking about…" said Rua, as he finished his breakfast.

Just as Rua was washing his hands, there was a ring at the door. "I'll get it," said Rua, while drying his hands, to which Ruka just nodded.

He went ahead and opened the door, and there stood, a man in a black suit.

"Long live Yliaster," said the man in the suit bowing, before pulling out an empty brown card.

It took a second to hit him, but as it did, he backed away. "Yliaster…?" said Rua, in shock.

"Who is it, Rua?" asked Ruka, from the kitchen.

"I am not here to fight. But I do have my orders. I am here to bring you back that which belongs to you," the man said, before throwing the card at Rua, who managed to catch it, less than an inch from his face.

As soon as the man turned away, he was smiling. As Rua tried to look at the card he was given, he doubled over in pain.

"Rua, what is it?!" said Ruka, as she came running to Rua.

He couldn't say a word. The hand, with which he had caught the card, felt like it was turning to lava, while outwardly, there was nothing wrong with it. The same feeling was slowly spreading throughout his entire body. He tried to scream, but could not. He could only grunt in pain, which he did.

The card vanished into thin air, before Rua blacked out. Ruka, in a panic, tried to wake him, before hurrying over to the phone and calling an ambulance. The ambulance got there in about twenty minutes.

* * *

He was brought to the hospital, and put into a room. As far as they could tell, he was most likely in a coma. But what had caused it, or how it had happened, they didn't know.

After being called, Yusei, Aki and Crow came to the hospital, as well. It took them a while to find the room where Rua was in, but when they did, they also found Ruka, who was by his side.

"Ruka, what happened?" asked Aki, hugging her, being the first to speak up.

"I don't know. We were eating breakfast… there was someone at the door, and then Rua collapsed," said Ruka, with a breaking voice. It was clear to the three of them that she had been crying.

"What did the doctors say?" asked Yusei, looking at the window-like door, where doctors and nurses passed by.

"They don't know what's wrong with him," answered Ruka, looking at Rua.

Not knowing what to say, Crow and Yusei, sat on the bench that was near the bed, while Aki stood by Ruka's side.

A minute of silence passed before Aki realized that there was a board attached to the bed. It had a few test results on it. She picked it up and tried to make sense of it.

Thankfully, she actually knew some of what it said. One thing that made her worry was the electrocardiogram. It suggested severe heart damage, as far as she could tell.

"Where is the doctor?" asked Aki, placing the board back on the bed, making sure not to worry anyone.

"She said she'll come back in a few minutes," replied Ruka, looking at the ground.

Aki sat back down, next to Ruka and just waited there. "Did he ever show any pain in his chest?" asked Aki, looking at Rua.

"No…" said Ruka, who had been asked the same thing by the ambulance medics and the doctors at the hospital.

"Did you recognize whoever was at the door?" asked Crow, getting up.

"I didn't even see him. When we eat, I'm facing in the opposite direction from the door. We heard the doorbell. Rua went to open it, said something to whoever was at the door, and then…" explained Ruka, before her eyes got watery, to which Aki put a hand on her back, trying to comfort her.

"I'm sure he'll tell us what happened, when he wakes up," said Yusei, trying to sound positive.

Then, they just waited there for the next minutes, in silence, no one knowing what to say. Eventually, the doctor came back to check on him, and informed them that visiting hours had passed.

Aki spent a few minutes chatting with the doctor, where no one could hear them, before she went back to the others, who, by now, were outside Rua's room. She sat down on the bench, together with the others.

It had already gotten late, so Yusei suggested they go home until morning, but Ruka protested.

"I will stay here," said Ruka, as Yusei made his suggestion. "He stood by my side, until I got better. I'm not going to abandon him," she added.

The others, not really knowing how to reply, gave in and agreed. Seeing as only the girl would stay and wasn't going to go away, the doctor agreed that she could stay by her brother's side.

* * *

While they were on their way home, Yusei decided to ask Aki about her conversation. "What do you think is wrong with him?" asked Yusei, driving on her left side.

"I don't really know," answered Aki, looking away.

"I saw your face when you looked at the results… they worried you, why?" asked Yusei, worried about his little friend's health.

A few seconds went by before Aki replied. "His EKG… it showed that there was damage to his heart," she explained. "I suspect it's from the duel they had with Aporia back then…"

"I see…" said Yusei, remembering the events that happened in the Arc Cradle. "Could that be why he's not waking up?" he asked.

"Probably not… but… it could 'cause complications, which they will not be able to deal with…" explained Aki, hesitantly.

Yusei, seeing that this conversation was making her more than uncomfortable, decided to drop the matter.

* * *

It was already 2AM at the hospital – Ruka had fallen asleep next to Rua, a couple of hours ago.

Rua opened his eyes. They were no longer amber, but a bright red. He stood up from his bed, quietly.

He got his clothes and changed into them, before going to Ruka's side. "I'm so sorry for this…" he said, kissing her on the cheek, before walking to the nearby desk quietly. It had his deck and duel disk in the first drawer.

"It was never meant to be," said Rua, looking at Life Stream Dragon. He picked up the card and looked at it, before he started concentrating. His Signer's mark started glowing furiously. "I release you from your prison," he says to the card, before it starts to glow a bright red and vanished – at the same time, his hair starts turning a darker shade of turquoise. And then, his Signer's mark calmed down, and stopped glowing.

He looked out of the window. "Z-ONE…" he said, before going to the door and opening it. There was a nurse outside the door, but he managed to slip by.

* * *

Yusei, along with his friends, this time even Jack, came in a hurry, on their Duel Runners, to the hospital after being called by Ruka.

They found her in front of the main entrance, looking distraught, scared, confused and a lot of other emotions that showed the others that something bad had happened.

After she explained to them what had happened, they got into the hospital's security office, thanks to Jack and Crow "persuading" the guards, who weren't going to allow it. They watched the footage of last night, and saw a black-haired Rua, walking slowly through the corridor, as if he was injured. They were left speechless.

Yusei and Aki, who had only gotten more worried from their conversation last night, assumed the worst, and were a bit relieved that he was seemingly OK – even though he looked odd and not very healthy.

"We have to find him!" said Ruka, worried.

"And we will! Crow, let's go!" replied Jack, with confidence.

"Call Ushio, and have him look around. We'll do the same," said Crow to Yusei, before he and Jack went back to their Duel Runners and started searching around.

Before going to search himself, Yusei called Ushio and Kazama, and asked them to help the others look.

"Aki, could you please take Ruka to their place? Maybe Rua could be there too," asked Yusei, to which Aki only nodded in response. _'I doubt he is, though…'_ he thought.

* * *

Yusei was looking around the city, asking who he could about Rua, and whether they had seen him, but no one had. Looking for someone in such a big city wasn't easy…

Just as he was about to make a turn in a small alley, he noticed a flash in the sky – it seemed like a small meteor, which was falling to Neo Domino. "This can't be happening…" he said, remembering the previous times "meteors" fell to Neo Domino.

Crow had noticed it too, and called Yusei, but since Yusei was already going there, Crow decided to keep looking for Rua instead.

Meanwhile, the meteor had landed, and Yusei was almost there. He had the crater in sight, and it was exactly what he had feared – a stone tablet, but there was more – there was someone close to it.

"Who are you?" Yusei demanded to know, while he was getting off his Duel Runner.

He didn't receive a response. The person, who was looking at the tablet, didn't turn around to look at Yusei. He was dressed in a blue jacket and black pants.

Yusei observed the situation for a few seconds – the person was a child, maybe he was just around when the tablet had fallen. _'He looks similar to Rua_ _– his height and hair, at least… No. No way he could've made it here on foot,'_ he thought. He then looked at the stone tablet – it was of a dragon, and it looked like it would be very powerful.

Yusei went closer to the boy, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Don't come any closer, Yusei," said the boy.

"That voice… Rua?!" said Yusei, not believing himself. _'Even with four hours head start, he couldn't have arrived here… Why would he be near a stone tablet anyway?'_ he thought to himself – his brain was running wild with questions.

"Please, just… don't," replied the boy with a cracking voice.

"Rua, why did you run away from the hospital? What happened to you?" asked Yusei, worried.

"Don't call me that. My name is not…" started Rua, before clearing his throat. "…it's not Rua, it's Alexander," he explained.

"What are you talking about? Rua!" called Yusei, before getting even closer. "Ruka is worried sick about you. We all were," he added.

"I am Alexander, the bringer of dawn – current leader of Ylliaster," explained Rua, turning around to face Yusei. His eyes were a bit puffy.

"No… You're not, you're our friend, Rua," replied Yusei, remembering when a similar thing happened a few weeks ago.

"I was brought into this world, with only one purpose: In case of Z-ONE's failure, I shall continue the battle for him, so that the Earth can have a future," explained Rua, with a reluctant voice.

"Rua…! That is not you! You're a Signer, you're one of us!" said Yusei, hoping this would not go like the last time.

Rua looked at his arm, more so to avoid Yusei's eyes, than to actually look at his mark. "I would remove it, but I don't know how to. Not permanently, anyway," he explained.

"You said you will continue Z-ONE's battle for a better future, but he himself said that the future has been changed. Do you remember when we battled him, together?" said Yusei, trying to get him to remember.

"Yusei…" said Rua, before looking away from Yusei, and back to the stone tablet. "Nothing you, or I, say, will change something," he added. "You and Jack have three days," he said, trying to keep a straight voice.

"Three days…? Three days, for what?" asked Yusei, confused.

"In three days, I will duel the both of you. Make sure you are ready," answered Rua, before taking a deep breath and raising his right arm to the sky, "Crimson Dragon, hear my call!" he said loudly, as his and Yusei's marks began to glow a bright red. "I hereby declare war on the Signers, by the names of Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo," he exclaimed, earning a confused look from Yusei.

Suddenly, both of their marks started glowing, before vanishing entirely.

"What did you do?" asked Yusei, concerned, looking at his arm, which now didn't have the mark anymore.

"I leveled the playing field. Until our battle is over, none of us will be able to use the Crimson Dragon's power," explained Rua.

"Rua, you don't have to do this!" said Yusei, desperately.

"Yeah… I do," replied Rua, looking down on the ground. He got the empty brown card from his pocket, and pointed it towards the stone tablet. The tablet got a soft glow, as the image of the dragon vanished from it slowly, while starting to appear on the card instead.

"Fair warning, I will not be using the deck that you're used to," explained Rua, before a portal opened next to him. "Tell Ruka, I am truly sorry, more than she will ever know," he said before passing through the portal.

"Rua!" shouted Yusei, trying to follow him, but the portal closed too soon.

* * *

 **A/N: …and… scene! So, what do you think? Is it worth continuing?**

 **Also, you may have noticed the name Kazama - he was some guy that helped Jack, when a fake Jack did some crime.**


	2. Chapter 2: A Test Run

**A/N: Back to do the next chapter, so I don't lose interest in it.**

* * *

Yusei was driving back to the Tops, after having had his conversation with Rua.

 _'How the hell will I tell them this?'_ he thought to himself. _'Worst of all, how am I going to tell Ruka?'_

"Maybe I should talk with Jack first…" he said to himself, before pushing a few buttons on his D-Wheel's menu. In a matter of seconds, Jack's face appeared on the monitor.

"What is it? Have you found him?" asked Jack, who seemingly just got into his D-Wheel.

"Yes… but we need to talk," answered Yusei, still thinking about how to begin to explain it.

"We definitely do – my mark is gone! Where are you?" asked Jack, revving up his engine.

"Head for the Tops, I'll meet you at the entrance," said Yusei, to which Jack just nodded. Yusei, seeing Jack understood, turned it off, and headed there, at full speed. Speed always had a way of clearing his head and helping him think.

* * *

At the Tops, it had been a few hours since Ruka and Aki had arrived. They sat there, watching TV, hoping to get their minds off of Rua's disappearance, and away from thoughts about what might have happened to him.

 _'Why didn't he leave any clue to where he was going?'_ thought Ruka to herself. ' _What if he has lost his memories… what if I will never see him again…'_ the thoughts ran through her mind, and were not going to leave her alone.

She got off the couch, and paced around the room, to avoid thinking about it. A thought crossed her mind… what if he has been here? Their loft has access to the Tops security system, meaning they had video and audio access of the entrances, exits and parking places. She began checking each one of them. Aki noticed it, but thought it was what Yusei told them to do, either way.

* * *

Soon enough, Yusei reached the Tops, and saw Jack already waiting there. He sighed as he pulled near his D-Wheel near Jack's.

"Where's Rua?" asked Jack, noticing that Yusei didn't have Rua with him.

"We need to talk," answered Yusei, getting out of his D-Wheel.

"What's wrong? Is he alright?" asked Jack, worried.

"A stone tablet fell from the sky, again. As the previous times, it was Ylliaster's," started Yusei. "I went to it, and found someone standing next to it…" he added slowly.

"What are you saying?" asked Jack, getting out of his D-Wheel.

"It was Rua… or… rather, Alexander… At least, that's what he called himself," answered Yusei, not looking Jack in the eyes.

"I don't understand," replied Jack.

"He said he's part of Ylliaster, and served as a fail-safe, in case of Z-ONE's death…" explained Yusei, while he saw surprise, shock and confusion build up in Jack's face.

"What?!" shouted Jack, in his usual angry voice.

* * *

At the shore of Neo Domino city, a portal appeared, and Rua came through. A few tears were streaming from his eyes.

He took off his jacket, and put it on the sand, and took a deep breath, now being left only in his shirt, and jeans. He looked out to the sea - the monument, which unites Neo Domino and Satellite caught his attention. But that lasted only a couple of seconds, as suddenly, he had a sharp pain in the back of his head, and memories came flooding to him.

He held his head, as he saw images of Aporia, in his old age, looking at the monument, thinking he was the only human left on Earth. Another memory of Antinomy, looking at it, hoping a Machine Emperor would have ended his life already. He felt their hopelessness and their despair, as if it was his own.

The pain subsided quickly, but he was a lot weaker, so he decided to sit down on the sand.

He pulled his wallet from his jeans, and took out a picture from it. It was a picture of Team 5Ds after winning the WRGP – after defeating Team Ragnarok. They had known that things would only get harder, but they celebrated nonetheless. He just looked at it for a couple of minutes.

He got a few short memories of Z-ONE, researching Yusei. This one wasn't as painful, as the other ones were. "Yusei managed to get Shooting Quasar, before he even got Cosmic Blazar… he did change the future by a bit… but only accelerated the downfall," he said to himself, recalling Z-ONE's research, and there being no mentioning of Shooting Quasar Dragon, but a few mentions of Cosmic Blazar Dragon, which Yusei did not have, and most likely was not going to have now.

"It was great while it lasted…" he added, before putting the photo aside.

As he was looking towards the sea, another memory came flooding – it was of Z-ONE sending vehicles back in time: Antinomy's D-Wheel, Placido's D-Wheel, Jose's D-Wheel, Luciano's D-Board and another D-Wheel. The D-Wheels were left just off-shore from Neo Domino – the same shore he was at, right now. As he thought about the shore near Neo Domino, another memory came to him.

 _\- flashback -_

Antinomy was at the shore, in the same clothes he had worn during the WRGP duels and he also had a yellow helmet on. He looked towards the sea.

"Come! Delta Eagle!" said Antinomy. There was a stream of light originating from the depth of the sea. The sea got rough – tons of waves were making it hard to see what's further away, before the engines of a D-Wheel were heard. Antinomy's D-Wheel surfaced and made his way at top speed, towards the shore, while not sinking, even though the D-Wheel was riding on water.

 _\- end of flashback -_

 _'Wait…'_ thought Rua, trying to recall the name of the D-Wheel that was sent for him. Something inside his head said _'Cyber Lightning'_. "I wonder…" he said before getting back up, facing the sea.

"Come! Cyber Lightning!" said Rua, loudly, before a bright ray of light came from the depth of the sea. Suddenly, the engine of a D-Wheel was heard. "I can't believe this worked," he added, surprised beyond measure, as he saw a light blue D-Wheel coming towards him. He grabbed the jacket from the ground before shaking it, so there would be no sand in it, and then taking a few steps back from the shore.

The D-Wheel was similar to a lot of D-Wheels he had seen in the past. It had the same wing-like back design as Crow's, the same front design as Yusei's, and similar handles as Aki's. This D-Wheel had varying shades of blue. In the front, it had two eye-like headlights.

"Awesome!" said Rua, smiling from ear-to-ear, as the D-Wheel stopped before his feet. _'If only Ruka and Yusei were here to see it…'_ he thought to himself before his smile faded away. _'They'd probably just tell me not to ride it, 'cause it's dangerous or something,'_ he thought before chuckling.

He raised the right handle, before getting in. He started feeling pain in his head again. Dozens of Antinomy's memories came to him, about D-Wheels.

A helmet was attached to the front of it, so he took it and put it on.

 _'With this, I probably now know just as much about D-Wheels as Yusei…'_ he thought to himself, as the memories stopped coming. He revved up the engine a couple of times, before he sped up, navigating through a rough road, in order to reach the highway.

Eventually he got to the highway. _'Maybe we could have a turbo-duel instead…'_ he thought, _'so that, even if I lose, I'll have fulfilled my greatest dream…and won't go away with regrets…'_ he added, recalling what will happen if he loses.

* * *

A few minutes later, in the middle of the city, Yusei finished explaining the whole situation to Jack – at least the parts he himself knew.

"I can't believe it…" said Jack, who was sitting down on the ground – his jacket was a bit dirty from it, but that was the least of his concerns. "First Bruno, now…" he said, clenching his fists, almost piercing his gloves, with his fingernails.

"Maybe…" said Yusei, who was facing away from Jack, with closed eyes. "Maybe we really are making things worse…" he said reluctantly.

"Don't tell me you believe those lies," said Jack, in an uproar voice, as he stood up.

"Bruno wasn't lying. Why should Rua?" asked Yusei, not looking at Jack.

"Yusei," said Jack, as he put a hand on Yusei's shoulder. "Z-ONE said that we had changed the future. Shooting Quasar is proof of that, is it not?" he asked.

Yusei let out a heavy sigh. "How are we going to tell her?" he asked, turning towards Jack.

"I don't know," said Jack hesitantly. "We don't even know what to tell her! She grew up with him… she won't believe us, and even if she does, it'll crush her," he added, to which Yusei nodded.

"We should head up," said Yusei, going towards the entrance. Jack followed shortly. Both were still coming to terms with this, themselves, so they did not know how to explain it to someone who was as close to him, as Ruka.

After reaching the floor, they got in without knocking, noticing Aki, who, for some reason, was trying to comfort Ruka.

"What is it?" asked Yusei, going towards her.

"We heard you talk on the camera system," answered Aki, stroking Ruka's back, who was hugging her.

* * *

Back with Rua, he was testing his new D-Wheel. It was quite fast, almost as fast as Antinomy's – that's what he thought anyway. He had some experience with the D-Boards, but never actually ridden a D-Wheel – the only reason he was doing so now, was because of the memories he had gotten from Antinomy.

"I wonder…" he said before grabbing the handles tightly, and accelerating as much as he could. A thought ran through his mind – a few months ago, when they had first met Antinomy, he had gone so fast, that it seemed like he vanished – maybe it was just a matter of the D-Wheel… He tried accelerating as much as possible, but couldn't do it.

He was a bit surprised at this. He thought that maybe this way, a memory would come to him, showing him how to do that. _'No luck, I guess,'_ he thought to himself, before slowing down.

As he realized that, his thoughts went towards Turbo Duels. He knew some about it, but he thought that it won't be enough. "If I am to take on Jack and Yusei at the same time, I need some practice…" he said before heading towards an exit that would lead to the city. A few dozen feet before going through the exit, his eyes went a darker shade of red for a few seconds. "Or…" he said before entering a few keystrokes on his display. A few red dots on the highway showed up. He turned back and went back on the highway, heading for one of the moving dots. After a few minutes, he had caught up with one of them. When he got to it, he saw a girl, riding a dark-red D-Wheel. A few silver strains of hair were sticking out from her helmet.

"This should be fun," he said before pressing a button on his display. Something in the back of his head screamed not to do this, but something in him wanted this more than anything.

"Speed World 2, activate! Turbo Duel!" said the sound system in the D-Wheels.

"What is this?" asked the girl, being surprised at the strange behavior of her D-Wheel, before noticing the D-Wheel behind her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I want a duel! But just as insurance, if you stop your D-Wheel before the duel ends, it'll go up in flames, and you with it," he explained before accelerating enough to stand by her side.

The girl looked at the challenger for a bit, before deciding that she seemed to not have much of a choice either way. "Fine, I'll duel you! If you want to be defeated so badly," she said. "My name is Yuki Phoenix. What's yours?" she asked, wanting to have a name, when she was going to talk with Security about this.

Something inside him screamed to say 'Placido', but he decided against it. "Call me Alexander," replied Rua, with a kind of weaker, unsure voice.

"Very well," replied his opponent, before accelerating.

"Duel!" they both said, before drawing five cards.

"I'll take the first turn," said Yuki, before drawing another card.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
4000 | 4000  
5/5 | 6/5  
35/40 | 34/40  
SC 1 | SC 1**

 _'I should check what kind of deck he has, first,'_ she thought, before looking at the cards in her hand.

"I set a monster face-down," declared Yuki, before a horizontal face-down card appeared before her D-Wheel.

"I set two cards face-down, and end my turn," she added, as two cards faded in and out, beside her D-Wheel.

"My Turn, Draw!" said Rua, before drawing a card from his Deck.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
4000 | 4000  
6/5 | 3/5  
34/40 | 34/40  
SC 2 | SC 2**

"When you have a monster on your side of the field, but I don't have any, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon," said Rua, before a big metallic dragon showed up close to him.

 **Cyber Dragon  
Level 5  
2100ATK / 1600DEF**

"I summon Plaguespreader Zombie in attack position," declared Rua before a dead-like monster showed up on his side of the field.

 **Plaguespreader Zombie  
Level 2  
400ATK / 200DEF**

 _'This is the chance to try out my new monster,'_ thought Rua, before he accelerated.

"I tune Plaguespreader Zombie on Cyber Dragon!" said Rua before the zombie-like creature turned into two green circles, while the metallic dragon turned into five star-like lights.

"Light that drives out all darkness! Eternal power that will rewrite fate itself! Come, Cyber Zero Dragon!" said Rua, pointing a finger towards the sky, before a huge flash appeared.

 **Cyber Zero Dragon  
Level 7  
2700ATK / 2500DEF**

A huge dragon appeared from the flash. It was a dragon, similar to the metallic one that was on the field previously.

"Cyber Zero Dragon can't attack the turn it is summoned. So, I set two cards face-down and end my turn," said Rua before two cards faded in and out, on each side of his D-Wheel.

"My Turn, Draw!" said Yuki, before drawing a card from her deck.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
4000 | 4000  
2/5 | 4/5  
34/40 | 33/40  
SC 3 | SC 3**

 _'What effect does it have…?'_ thought Yuki, looking at the futuristic looking dragon. _'It can't attack the turn it is summoned… Meaning it must have an effect that is about attacking. Knowing that doesn't really help much, though,'_ she thought, before looking at her own cards. She had Destiny Hero – Plasma in her hand. _'I need to buy me some time, or maybe this will work instead…'_ she thought, as she looked at a card in her hand, Mimble Momonga.

"I set another monster face-down and end my turn," she said before another horizontal face-down card appeared next to the other one.

"My Turn, Draw!" said Rua, before getting a card from his deck.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
4000 | 4000  
3/5 | 4/5  
33/40 | 33/40  
SC 4 | SC 4**

 _'If beating Yusei and Jack will be this easy, I don't need to worry… but it won't,'_ he thought as he looked at the card he drew.

"I remove Cyber Dragon and Plaguespreader Zombie from my graveyard," said Rua, before two cards got ejected from the graveyard. _'Let's see how you fare against one of the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters,'_ he thought, before placing a monster on one of his monster zones.

"Light and darkness, through using both, an old door opens! Come forth Envoy of the Beginning, Black Luster Soldier!" he said before a soldier in full-body heavy armor appeared on his side of the field.

 _'That might be just what I need,'_ thought Yuki, looking at the legendary monster in front of her.

"I activate Cyber Zero's effect," said Rua, before placing the Black Luster Soldier from his monster zone to his spell/trap card zone. "I can choose one monster on my side of the field, and equip it to my dragon. This way, it'll get its effect, as well as 100ATK points for every level that monster has," he explained, as the heavily-armored soldier got on top of the dragon.

 _Cyber Zero Dragon: 2700ATK → 3500ATK_

"But that's not all. I now summon Knight of the Beginning," said Rua before a younger version of Black Luster Soldier appeared on the field.

 **Knight of the Beginning**  
 **Level 4**  
 **500ATK / 2000DEF**

"I activate its effect. I decide on a monster on my opponent's side of the field, and that monster gets banished," explained Rua, as one of the facedown cards simply vanished.

"But that's not all, I attach it to my Cyber Zero Dragon as well," declared Rua, before the small soldier went to the side of the bigger soldier.

 _Cyber Zero Dragon: 3500ATK_ _3900ATK_

"The monster that is attached with Knight of the Beginning can attack twice… but better count again, because so can Black Luster Soldier. Meaning, my dragon can attack four times in total," said Rua smirking. _'If I get this combo during the duel with Jack and Yusei, I might actually win…'_ he thought to himself, before the dragon charged up a blue energy sphere in his mouth. "Cyber Zero Dragon… attack her monster!" said Rua, before the dragon attacked and destroyed the face-down monster. _'If I had had a piercing damage card, I would've already won,'_ thought Rua as her cards were blasted into pieces.

"Mimble Momonga's effect activates! I can set two other Mimble Momongas, and I get 1000 life points," she said as two horizontal cards appeared face-down.

"I still have three attacks to go," he said before something screamed inside his mind. _'No!'_ thought Rua, as he felt lose control of his right arm, which was pointed towards the sky. A circle appeared around Rua's and Yuki's D-Wheel. _'What have I done…'_ he thought, as Yuki's face seemed confused.

The dragon attacked the two other facedown Nimble Momongas. "I get two thousand more life points," she said as a red aura surrounded her.

"Direct attack," said Rua simply, before the dragon turned towards Yuki, and attacked her directly. She nearly lost control over her D-Wheel. It was apparent that she felt pain from that attack. "I end my turn," said Rua, without a trace of emotion in his voice.

It took a few seconds before Yuki caught her breath. "What was that?" she asked, but didn't get an answer. _'A psychic duelist?'_ she thought, knowing that there are people who are able to do this. "My Turn, Draw!" she said, before drawing a card.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
4000 | 3100  
1/5 | 5/5  
33/40 | 30/40  
SC 5 | SC 5**

"I have to do this fast, if I want to survive this," she said to herself. "I activate my trap card, Sacrifice of the Fallen! It allows me to summon as many tokens as the number of monsters that were sent to the graveyard during the last turn," she explained before three fairies with torn wings appeared on the field.

 **3 X Fallen Token  
Level 1  
500ATK / 500DEF**

 _'It's time I showed who I really am…'_ thought Yuki, to herself. "I tribute my three tokens," she started as three of the fairies disappeared.

 _'Three tributes…? Wait… three tributes in a Destiny Hero deck…'_ thought Rua, remembering learning something about the Destiny Hero deck in the Duel Academy.

"I summon Destiny Hero Plasma!" said Yuki, as a warrior-like monster appeared, with huge wings.

"…that's… bad…" said Rua, cringing as he vaguely remembered what its effect is – he remembered knowing that it could most likely beat any card in existence, perhaps even the god cards.

 **Destiny HERO – Plasma  
Level 8  
1900ATK / 600DEF**

"It has a similar effect to your monster; it can absorb one of your monsters, but instead of effects, it gains half of its original attack points! Plasma, go – take Cyber Zero Dragon!" said Yuki before threads of dark-red skin went around the metallic dragon and dragged it inside its wings. The heavily-armored warrior and the younger warrior were torn into nothingness as the metallic dragon got engulfed by the fiend.

 _Destiny HERO – Plasma: 1900ATK → 3250ATK_

 _'What were the odds…'_ thought Rua, _'targeting one of the few individuals who have an ace monster with almost the same effect as my dragon…'_

"With this, I've won!" said Yuki, as she turned her D-Wheel to face Rua's. "Plasma, end this!" she said as the behemoth widened its wings and started throwing rain-like rays at Rua.

* * *

 **A/N: Is it just me, or is this turning from drama to melodrama? I don't know… it just sort of… happens. As always, if you liked it, leave a review, or… something.  
It honestly bugs me that it always goes like this. Like what, you might ask? Like me, starting a story, and not being able to figure out what happens next… If you think this duel/story is already thought-out, you couldn't be further away from the truth. It wasn't even my plan to get Destiny HEROs in this, or a person with the last name Phoenix. Shit just happens the way it does. To be quite honest, I'm just making it up as I go along, which might result in some occasional OOCness.**

 **P.S. Yes, I know, the effects of that dragon are a bit too much. I know. But hey, then again, so were the effects of the Time God cards and the Infinity cards (the Machine Emperors), so I had to make an equally powerful card, to fit the whole theme of Z-ONE's companions.  
Just so you know, that card can take monsters from your side of the field and use their effects, and it gets 100ATK for every level of the attached monsters, but if its attack points go over 4000ATK (no matter for what reason), it is destroyed. If it goes to the graveyard, the owner gets 1000 points of damage for every card in their hand. So, maybe that will balance it out? I don't bloody know.**


	3. Chapter 3: A Promise

**A/N: Yo. Yeah. This is all I'm gonna say. What you gonna do about it? LOL**

* * *

"Destiny HERO Plasma, direct attack!" said Yuki with a raised hand, as her monster widened its wings, in preparation for its attack.

' _I can win, but…'_ thought Rua reluctantly, looking at one of the cards he set earlier. _'If I activate it now… she'll be hurt, because of me…'_ he though, as rays of red light streamed from her monster towards him, almost making him lose control of his D-Wheel and crash.

"You have one turn, to change the outcome. I end my turn," said Yuki, before slowing down a bit, as so had Rua.

"Draw," said Rua, accelerating his D-Wheel a bit, and in a few seconds, he had caught up with Yuki's D-Wheel, which was at his left side.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
750 | 3100  
2/5 | 4/5  
32/40 | 30/40  
SC 6 | SC 6**

"There are only a few duelists on Earth that have that card in their deck… That _and_ your name… You are related to Edo Phoenix…" observed Rua with wide eyes, noticing her silver hair.

"What about it…?" asked Yuki, looking at Rua. _'Is he a fan, or something?'_ she thought, a bit confused.

Rua looked at her, for a few seconds, before answering. "I am sorry for targeting you… I don't know what came over me. I wasn't meant to fight other people," he explained. "I just wanted to test my D-Wheel, but something in me screamed to target someone… and make this a real-damage duel," he added. This only got him a confused look from Yuki, who did not understand what he was talking about.

"This duel, is over, but I don't want to win it, because that would mean hurting you… a lot," said Rua, before pressing a button on the duel disk, which was attached to his D-Wheel. "I activate my trap card, Ring of Destruction," he added, earning a surprised look from his opponent. "I decide on one monster on the field, and destroy it. After it gets destroyed, we both take damage equal to its attack points. I choose Destiny Hero Plasma, meaning we both get 3250 points of damage," he explained as a metallic circle surrounded the behemoth, before blowing up and destroying it.

 **Rua VS Yuki  
DRAW  
2/5 | 4/5  
32/40 | 30/40  
SC 6 | SC 6**

Both of them felt some pain, and difficulty keeping their D-Wheels in a straight line, but it was over quickly, with neither of them being hurt in any significant way.

Rua stopped the D-Wheel shortly after, as did Yuki. "Why challenge me, in the first place, then?" said Yuki, before throwing Rua's Cyber Zero Dragon towards him, who caught it.

"I don't know," replied Rua, before putting his card in his extra deck.

"Wait a second…" said Yuki, noticing his height. "How old are you?" she asked.

"You almost beat me…" observed Rua, ignoring her question and making a note that he should train an awful lot before facing Yusei and Jack. "I heard _a lot_ about Edo, but not about you… Why?" he asked.

"I was never good enough to enter the Pro League," explained Yuki. "Whatever strategy I made, my opponents could defeat me, with their Synchros," she added.

Rua got a confused look on his face for a few seconds. "But there are some Synchros that work in a Destiny Hero deck, why don't _you_ use them?" he asked, as something in him found her dislike of Synchros, rather likeable.

"I don't want to," stated Yuki, simply. Seeing the look on Rua's face that wanted her to further explain it, she gave in. "Not that it concerns you in any way, but I want to get there, like Edo did, meaning without having to use Synchros," she explained.

A thought crossed Rua's mind at that moment – a tag duel, instead of a one-VS-two type of duel, which maybe would be a bit easier to win. "How bad do you want that?" he asked, putting his hands on his handles.

"What…?" asked Yuki simply.

"I have a… important duel, the day after tomorrow, and hopefully, a few others… I could need some help. In exchange, I could help you get in the Pro League," explained Rua.

"You are a kid. How could you help me?" asked Yuki, not taking him serious.

"By placing you against some high-level Pro League duelist… I guess," said Rua, still not really sure of it, himself.

"No, I mean, how could _you_ help me?" asked Yuki, again, emphasizing the word 'you'.

"Oh, right…" said Rua, trying to scratch his head, before remembering he had a helmet on. "The same way I can do stuff like… this," he said before getting off his D-Wheel, and turning away from her. He raised two fingers in the air, before dropping them swiftly, as you would do with a sword. Suddenly, a portal appeared.

Yuki got slowly off her D-Wheel. _'Even psychic duelists can't do stuff like this…'_ she thought, looking at the thing in front of her. It was somehow confusing, as her brain struggled to really process what she was looking at. "What is this?" she asked, removing her helmet.

Rua looked at her, her eyes were a dark shade of blue. Her racing suit was a dark red, with some brown, on some places. He thought it was somehow similar to Plasma. "A portal," said Rua, stepping closer.

"To what?" she asked, simply, fascinated with it.

"To any place, on Earth. Apparently, it can also be used to go to any point in time, as well, but… I don't have the memory of how to do that," explained Rua, removing his helmet.

Coming back to her senses, Yuki took a few steps back. "Who the hell are you…?" she asked. She looked at him – he wasn't even dressed properly for the Racing Duel they just had – he was just in a shirt, blue jacket and jeans.

Rua looked at her for a few seconds, before looking towards the portal, which was disappearing. "My name is Alexander. I am the current leader of an organization, which goes by the name of Ylliaster," he explained.

"What? Ylliaster is led by a child, now?" asked Yuki, in disbelief, having already heard of Ylliaster.

"Here's what I'm offering," said Rua, again avoiding the question. "You help me in this duel, and I will make you the best in the Pro League, after you help me," he explained, before putting his helmet back on.

"What is this duel about? What is so important, that the leader of Ylliaster will duel in person?" asked Yuki, looking Rua in the eyes, not sure what to do.

"Preventing the downfall of humanity," said Rua, matter-of-factly, before getting on his D-Wheel.

"You're still on about that?" she asked, remembering that she had a hard time getting out of Neo Domino during the Arc Cradle's appearance. Rua didn't respond however – he was pressing some keys on his D-Wheel, just before a beep was heard in Yuki's D-Wheel. _'Why don't they just hire contract killers to take care of people they don't want alive, or something…?'_ she thought.

"If you need time to think about it, there. I just sent you the location where I'm staying. If you want to, come there before the day after tomorrow, and we'll talk," added Rua, before accelerating and driving off.

* * *

Back at the Tops, Yusei and Jack were sitting down, on the other couch, none of them really knowing what to say.

"What do we do now?" asked Aki, who was trying to comfort Ruka, effectively breaking the silence.

"What if we just don't duel him?" replied Yusei.

"In that case, he will probably orchestrate something which will leave us with no choice, but to accept the challenge," said Jack, with closed eyes.

"Wrong! Rua isn't like that!" replied Ruka, looking up.

"Except this isn't Rua we're talking about. It's the leader of Ylliaster. That's what they do, isn't it? Infiltrate us, and then try to crush us," said Jack, looking at Yusei.

"Bruno wasn't like that," replied Yusei, knowing what Jack was talking about.

"No? He tried to throw you in a black hole, remember?" said Jack, matter-of-factly, before getting up. He never really got over Bruno, turning out to actually be Antinomy. Seeing no reply from Yusei, Jack went to the door, and opened it. "I've never shied away from a challenge, and I won't start doing so, now. I am accepting his challenge," he added before going out and closing the door behind him.

Yusei sighed before getting up. "I'll call Crow," he said, before going outside as well.

"I keep trying to deny it, but it's just that I don't want to believe that Rua has been someone else all along," said Ruka after a few moments of silence. "We grew up together… we did everything together…" she added, with a breaking voice.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rua was at his room in the Dai-Ichi Hotel, lying down on the bed.

' _I could've won the duel, but it is better that I didn't. I almost did, though…'_ he thought, putting his hand through his hair. _'I would've killed her... but I guess I have to get used to that…'_ he thought, sitting straight up on the bed.

"If I win the duel… Yusei and Jack will… die," he said, before sighing and throwing himself back on the bed. _'Why me?'_ he thought desperately, closing his eyes, before feeling a piercing pain in the back of his head, making him scream out loud.

"I did not want to actually know that!" he shouted as he received loads of memories of Z-ONE and the others looking for a suitable candidate, who would receive their memories. A few moments passed and the memories stopped coming, but by then, he was so weak, that he could barely open his eyes.

After a few heavy breaths, he was able to recall why he was chosen, "Someone who is close to, or preferably part of, Team 5Ds… Someone with great potential… Someone young… Someone honest… Someone who is more than willing to protect the world… Someone who will understand despair… Someone who will be more likely to follow the instructions…" he recalled, listing the criteria that the candidate would have to meet.

"Wait a second… why did I meet the two last requirements?" he said, feeling himself getting his energy back, but at the same time bracing for the pain he was expecting, yet nothing happened. _'That's just great! Why doesn't it work when I actually want to know something?!'_ he thought to himself, annoyed.

He sighed, before standing up again. He pulled his deck from his pocket, looking at the card that was the first in line, Cyber Zero Dragon, before getting a short memory from looking at it. "So, this is needed to get the memories into my head…" he said looking at it, before taking it and placing it away. He felt a lot calmer when it was no longer on him. "How the hell does that even work?" he said to himself before throwing himself back on the bed, being frustrated.

* * *

A few hours later, Yusei had already told Crow, and he took it about as you'd expect – disbelief, denial, anger and lastly, reluctant acceptance. They figured that maybe they could talk Rua out of it, so they went to the only other member of Ylliaster that they knew of – Yeager, who by now, was mayor of Neo Domino. He was sitting in his office, going through some paperwork, when he heard some rumbling outside, before the door actually opened, showing Yusei and Crow, and his secretary, who was telling them that he was busy.

"It's alright," said Yeager, to the secretary, motioning her to leave, as they came inside his office. "No reason to storm my office. You could have just called," he said before sitting down in his chair.

"Are you still in contact with the Ylliaster?" asked Yusei.

"Why?" asked Yeager, with furrowed eyebrows, but that was all he could say before Crow grabbed his collar.

"Just answer him!" said Crow, demandingly, but Yeager managed to escape his grip, easily.

"I haven't talked to them for a few months, now. What is this about?" asked Yeager, before going back to sit in his chair, looking smug.

"We need to talk with them," answered Yusei.

"Go to the Dai-Ichi Hotel – a lot of its members have rooms there, but that's just about all I know, about their location. Ylliaster is decentralized, after all. It might also be protected, for all I know," explained Yeager, before pressing a few keystrokes, and showing the Dai-Ichi Hotel building as a hologram on top of his desk.

"Thank you," said Yusei, knowing roughly where it was, before he and Crow headed outside.

"What is up with these two, anyway?" asked Yeager to himself, before shrugging and going back to work, as if nothing happened.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuki was driving around the city, as she usually did when wanting to make a decision.

' _I suppose it wouldn't hurt, to at least try…'_ thought Yuki, referring to the offer Rua had made her earlier. _'I'm already getting old… If I don't get into the Pro League now, I might not have much more of a chance…'_ she thought, accelerating. "But affiliating myself with Ylliaster… Why do the good things always come at huge prices?" she said before pressing a few buttons on her display, to get the location that Rua sent her earlier on.

' _I want to be remembered… I want to be known for my own skills, not those of my father. If helping some kid, win a duel, is all I have to do… so be it,'_ she thought, heading for the location.

* * *

Crow and Yusei had already arrived at the Dai-Ichi Hotel, and were parking their D-Wheels near the hotel, when they noticed a man and a woman, in suits, coming towards them.

"Signers are not welcome here _…_ " said the man in the black suit. He had brown hair, and seemed to be in his 40s.

"Leave now," added the woman, who had blonde hair and seemed to be around 30.

Yusei was gonna say something, but noticed that they had duel disks on their arms. "How about we duel? We win, you let us see your leader, and if you win, we go away," he asked.

"Last chance: leave, or face the consequences," the man said.

"Can't do that," said Crow, before charging towards them.

Before Crow could get near enough though, the unknown man and woman pointed their hands towards them, before pressing a button on their duel disks. The result was a metallic string came from each of their duel disks and got attached to Yusei and Crow, who passed out as a result from the electricity that went surging through their bodies.

"Did you really expect them to listen?" asked the woman, before snickering.

The man sighed, before responding. "Of course not," he answered.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah… what ya think? Come on, give me some feedback! I need to know whether this story has gone down the drain yet and if so, ideas to fix it are welcome. So… you know, review it, or something. Maybe there'll be a duel next chapter, or maybe more of this** ** _…_ I don't bloody know.  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Fifth Stage

**A/N: Listening to Sword Art Online's Soundtrack while writing this… GAWDDAMN, that music makes you feel badass or depressed (depending on the track), no matter what you are doing while listening to it. LOL**

* * *

Rua was lying down on his bed, when he heard a knock on his door. "What is it?" he said, getting up to answer it.

"We have an issue," was the reply that came from the other side of the door, earning a bit of a confused look from Rua, who opened the door. As he opened the door, a tall man stood there, around 40 years old, who mostly had brown hair, and was dressed in white clothes, i.e. white pants, white jacket, but blue shirt. "Fudo Yusei and his friend, Crow, came to visit," he explained.

"What?!" said Rua, trying to look past the man, who was still standing in front of him. "Why were they here?" he said, but immediately continued speaking. "Never mind, I can guess why," he added, shaking his head.

"What should we do with them?" asked the man, looking at the boy that was about half his height.

Rua pondered that for a few seconds. _'Sending them back would probably be the best solution…'_ he thought, looking at the ground, but something inside him screamed not to do that, but punish them somehow, instead. _'No,'_ he thought to himself, massaging his head with one hand, while having his eyes shut.

"Sir… Are you alright?" asked the man, noticing something was off.

"Yeah, I'm… fine," replied Rua, turning away. _'At least, I think I am,'_ he thought, noticing that he was quite weak at the moment. "Send them back to the highest floor in the Tops," ordered Rua, determined, not letting the man see him getting weaker. "They came on D-Wheels, didn't they?" he asked, to which the man nodded. "Then make sure to return them as well," he finished.

"Understood… however, there's one more issue that needs discussing: there's someone here to see you – a girl by the name of Yuki Phoenix…" said the man, moving out of the way. Rua turned towards the door again, noticing now that there was a frustrated Yuki standing there, whose arms were being held by two guards.

' _That was quicker than I thought…'_ thought Rua, noticing that it had only been a few hours since he last talked with her. "Let her go," said Rua, in a somewhat loud voice. The guards looked at each other, before also looking to the man who was standing next to Rua, who nodded towards them.

"What was that all about?" asked Yuki, in an angry tone, as the guards let her go, and went away.

"I am sorry," said Rua, looking at Yuki with a face, showing both shame and annoyance. "You really need to talk to those guards, Seth. They don't have to immobilize everyone that shows up here!" he said, to the man, who was now outside the room, standing at the door. The man nodded, before closing the door and leaving Rua and Yuki in the room alone. Rua sighed, before motioning with his hand to two seats that were in the room, next to a small table. "Sorry, again, about that," said Rua, sitting down, as Yuki followed suit and sat down as well.

"Didn't you say you were their leader?" asked Yuki, looking around the room - aside of the big leather chairs they were sitting on, there was the table between the two, a huge bed, a big shelf – probably for clothes… but it was just opened, with nothing inside it; aside of that, there was also a nightstand and a laptop on the nightstand.

"I am," assured Rua. "However… some still look to Seth for orders, considering that he has been leading them ever since the Ark Cradle incident," he explained, before noticing doubt in her. "Oh, no, it's not like he's against me or anything. He gave up command over Ylliaster, the second I was…" he said, but stopped. He didn't know what word to use. It's not like he was appointed to it… "…activated," he said, looking out the window, but he knew it sounded more like a question than anything else.

"Activated?" asked Yuki, before changing her mind. "Never mind, I expect I'll find out soon enough," she said, getting Rua's attention back. "As you probably already guessed, I came here because I decided to accept your offer, but I want to know who the duel will be against. I also need to change some cards in my deck, which your organization should be able to help with," she explained, in a business kind of tone.

Instead of replying, Rua only smiled at her before getting up from his chair, and going to the nightstand. After getting the laptop that was on it, he came back and sat down, before opening it. Yuki sat still as she could make out a few keystrokes, but didn't know what Rua was doing. "These two…" said Rua, turning the laptop towards Yuki, whose eyes widened in an instant. "Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas," he said, simply.

"What?!" asked Yuki, not having known who she would duel. "One of these beat your previous leader, one-on-one. And now you want to challenge both, him _and_ his friend? Isn't Atlas almost as powerful as Yusei is?" she asked, looking at the details that were presented to her – mostly about their decks, and strategies.

"If we get this one, the others that come after these two will be _much_ easier," said Rua, before getting up from his seat again, and going next to Yuki, pressing a few keystrokes, showing her a list of individuals – all of them duelists, Yuki guessed. She did recognize all of them: Harald – leader of Team Ragnarok, Aki Izayoi – Black Rose, Crow Hogan – friend of Yusei and Jack, Sherry LeBlanc – she had heard of her somewhere, Jean – member of Team Unicorn, Yeager – current mayor of Neo Domino.

"That's… quite the list," she said, realizing what kind of challenge she had just accepted. Noticing she had reached the end of the list, she scrolled up and found that there were a few more names, but on closer inspection it were just three other names, two of which were Yusei and Jack. On the whole list, there was only one name she didn't recognize and never heard of – the third one, so she clicked on it – revealing someone that looked a lot like the boy standing close to her, but the deck was totally different, from what she had seen him use. "Who's this?" she asked, looking into her strategies.

Rua went back to his seat and slumped down. "That's… my sister. Twin sister, to be precise," he said slowly, looking down. Yuki turned her attention away from the laptop, which was listing Ruka's strategies. She looked at him, trying to figure out what the hell was up with him, but she couldn't figure it out.

"You…" started Yuki, but didn't really know what to say. She only shook her head, slowly, in confusion, not understanding what was going on. "Why?" was all that she could really reply with. Somehow, her brain wasn't able to process what it was being told.

Rua turned his head away from her, and considered something for a few seconds. "I…" he started, but didn't know how to say it. He took a deep breath, before saying "Either the people on that list perish, or humanity does… The only choice I have is whether to let this world fall to ruins, or sacrifice a few key individuals…" He looked away from her, as he didn't want to face her judging eyes. He looked at his right hand, which was over his desk… _'It's not even been a day since I've got access to those memories, and they've already changed me… maybe even more than I want to admit it to myself,'_ he thought.

"But your own sister -" insisted Yuki, before hearing Rua's fist slam down on the table.

"What would _you_ do?" asked Rua, in a rather angry voice. "Tell me! If you got access to countless memories from a time, that isn't even that far away… memories of suffering people, memories of humanity practically dying out, memories of failing everyone and everything you ever loved, memories of not being able to save anyone, memories of children literally falling into a pit of fire, while all you can do is… watch…" he said, realizing that a tear was rolling down his cheek, which he quickly wiped off. "How would you try to save it? Because, god knows, we have already tried everything. I'm the last option. Using a single deck, could you guide the world away from destruction? Because _I_ can," he said, as his voice cracked mid-sentence, before getting up from his chair.

Yuki stood in silence, looking down. What if this was really how things were? In the long run, if you put it to a choice: a few individuals, or the whole world… the choice is obvious, but she didn't want to accept that those were the only two options.

"I'm the only one left… The ones who achieved and thoroughly studied time travel, found out one thing, which was more than clear: without interference from outside, a timeline cannot and will not change. If I die, or if, for some reason, I lose access to those memories, it's all over," he explained, looking at the sunset, before closing his eyes. "If you want, you can leave. I won't hold it against you," he said.

* * *

Back at the Tops, Aki had just heard someone outside the door. She thought that it was probably one of the guys – maybe Yusei, but after a few minutes passing by, and no one coming in, she decided to check it out, just in case. She opened the door, and looked around, immediately noticing the unconscious bodies of Crow and Yusei, a few feet away from the door.

"Yusei, Crow!" shouted Aki, hurrying to them. She went to their heads and checked their pulses, which they fortunately had – weak ones, but that was good enough. Their D-Wheels were close to them, thrown on their side.

"Aki, what's wrong?" asked Ruka, going outside as fast as she could. Noticing them, she was shocked, and put both of her hands in front of her mouth. "Aki, are they…" she started slowly, not wanting to even finish that sentence.

"They're fine… just unconscious," said Aki, trying to get Yusei up. Ruka went to her, and tried to help, and even though Yusei was rather heavy for them both, they did manage to get him inside. And eventually, they got Crow, too. As soon as they were slumped on the couch, Yusei's phone went off, showing Jack, as the caller ID.

Aki took the phone and opened it, hearing a wind in the other side of the call. "Yusei, why can't I reach you on your D-Wheel?" asked Jack, on the other end.

"Jack, something happened. We just found him and Crow outside, unconscious," said Aki, before putting it on speaker.

"What? Are they alright?" asked Jack, as Aki noticed the sound of wind dying down.

"Yeah, we're fine," answered Ruka, who was sitting down on the couch, next to Crow's unconscious body. _'Jack seems a lot more caring lately…'_ she observed.

"I'll be there, shortly," was the only reply, before the call ended.

"Stay here. I'll be back in a second," said Aki, going outside, where her D-Wheel was. She got her duel disk, along with her deck. _'I swore I'd never use my powers again, but if something happens, I might need you,'_ thought Aki, looking at Black Rose Dragon.

Coming back inside, she noticed Yusei and Crow were slowly coming to their senses, so she went to their side. "Yusei, Crow, are you alright?" asked Aki.

"I have been better," said Crow, looking around, so as to figure out where he was.

"What happened?" asked Ruka, bringing two bottles of water.

"We were ambushed," said Yusei, taking one of the bottles. "Thank you," he said with a weak smile.

"We found where Rua is, but we couldn't get inside. We got an electroshock as soon as we parked our D-Wheels near it… Something tells me that they weren't very surprised that we were there…" said Crow, drinking some water.

"Our D-Wheels… are they here?" asked Yusei, having drunk all the bottled water, to which Aki nodded.

"They were outside, next to you," said Ruka, before Yusei got up, but falling down again.

"What are you doing?" said Aki, helping him lie down.

"I want to try it again," said Yusei, rather loudly, trying to get back up.

"You can barely walk," said a voice from behind them. Turning around to look, they saw that it was Jack. "Let alone chase after someone who doesn't want to hear from you," he added, earning a growl from Yusei.

"Jack…" said Aki, motioning towards Ruka. "A time and a place," she said, being a bit pissed off at the former king. Jack ignored her, sitting down.

"According to the state of the two half-conscious optimists, Rua has already taken control over Ylliaster. Does anyone know what that means?" said Jack, waiting for an answer, but not getting any. "It means that he's determined to go through with this," he said, before noticing Ruka leave the living room, and enter the bedroom. "Whoever he once was… he's gone. He won't hesitate to take any of us down, and you know that, better than any of us," he added, looking at Yusei. "It's not fair… no one said that it was. But that's just life – it's rarely fair," he finished, looking at the ground.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Rua was sitting on his bed, out the window. It had already gotten dark, and Yuki had already gotten a room, to which she went. Maybe she was already asleep, but Rua doubted that a lot.

He thought about going to bed, but stopped as a thought came to him. _'Huh… I can't even remember the last time I slept alone…'_ he thought, looking at the big bed. _'Never did like big beds. They just make the room feel empty,'_ he added, taking off his shoes and jacket. He got up and took off his jeans as well, before going to bed.

 _'First night away from Ruka… it doesn't feel right…'_ he thought, looking at the ceiling which had a diamond shape pattern. "Before 48 hours pass, I will have already challenged both Yusei and Jack… and if not for the whole end-of-the-world thing," he said to himself, before chuckling, "I wouldn't mind losing to them… not in the slightest," he added. _'I hope she won't be there when I duel them… I fear her look will be more than enough to change my mind, and say 'to hell with Earth's future'…'_ he thought, smiling to himself. "If only…" he said as a tear went down his cheek, before he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Back at the Tops, Crow and Jack had already gone back to the garage for the night. And because of Yusei insisting on it, Aki had gone to her place as well. Ruka had gone to her room to sleep. Only Yusei was in the living room, and a glass of cold water in front of him.

He had already gotten some hours of unwilling sleep, so he could stay awake for the night, just in case something happens. He had his deck in front of him… he had prepared some alternate strategies and recycled some older ones, now that he couldn't use Clear Mind anymore. And even if he didn't want to admit it to himself, Jack wasn't all that wrong… Maybe Rua doesn't want to go through with it, but that doesn't change anything in the fact that he will go through with it.

' _Even if we had gotten past those guards… I doubt that we could've done anything,'_ he thought to himself. He grabbed the glass and drank it. For some reason, he was very thirsty ever since he woke up – probably something to do with getting an electroshock. He went to the kitchen to get some more. He already knew where everything was, so he opened the lowest door of the fridge, where two large bottles of water were. He took one of them and filled his glass, before deciding to fill the bottle up, since it was almost empty. He went to the sink and filled it up, but as he finished filling it up, he heard a muffled voice.

He was alarmed at it, and tried to find its location immediately, but slowed down, as he noticed that the voice came from Ruka's room. He went slowly to it, making sure not to make a noise, thinking that Ruka was already asleep. He opened the door as quietly as possible, trying to listen inside. Now being able to hear, his shoulders lowered as he realized what that muffled voice was… it was Ruka, crying on her bed.

Yusei stood there, at the door that was ajar, not knowing what to do. Unlike what most people think, he wasn't really good with emotional stuff. He reluctantly and slowly closed the door, and went back outside. _'Maybe she can deal with it better that way…'_ thought Yusei, not really knowing what to do. He sat against the wall, still hearing her cries that were muffled by the wall. "Ruka…" was all that he could say to the situation.

* * *

 **A/N: Huh… Interesting… That was** _ **a lot**_ **more depressing than I originally intended it to be… Any-old-how, SAO soundtrack – some songs in it can make you momentarily depressed, and the story gets influenced by that.  
As always, review it if you liked it. Or not – up to you – reading it is good enough for me. Thanks for that.**

P.S. **In comparison to the other chapters, I put less time, but more effort in this, and I think this turned out better than some of the other chapters. Or at least, it seems that way to me. Tell me whether I'm right on that, please. I genuinely would like to know!**

P.P.S. **Those who understood why the chapter is titled "Fifth Stage" gets a cookie. If you didn't get it, here's a tip:** ** **Kübler-Ross.****

P.P.P.S. **Last thing, I swear: Just an explanation, Seth is the guy that was at the Nazca Lines when Goodwin's brother went there. He became the leader of Ylliaster after Z-ONE perished.**


	5. Chapter 5: I'm Ready!

**N/A: I should be studying… I** _ **really**_ **should be studying. Well, while I'm procrastinating, I might as well continue this, eh?** **OK, just 'cause you said so. So… eh… next chapter will most likely be the duel, and uh… yeah, then we'll see how this goes. Maybe the next chapter will be the last, or there will be more after it, depending on who wins – I have no idea. We'll see, I guess. I really should start thinking the stories through, shouldn't I? Maybe one day** **…**

* * *

There was a knock at the door. "Miss Phoenix?" a voice was heard from the outside.

"Yeah…?" said Yuki, still half asleep. She got up, slowly opening her eyes, taking in her environment – bright light from the windows lightning up the hotel room. _'Right… employed by someone who knows the future, that leads a worldwide organization, to kill some people. Almost forgot about that,'_ she thought sarcastically to herself, getting some of her clothes and dressing up. "What is it?" she asked.

"Rua has requested your presence at the roof. He asked you to also take your deck and duel disk with you," said the voice from the other side of the door.

"Just a second," she replied, looking at the nearby mirror, to fix up her hair quickly. She pulled her hair back and tied it, and went to the cabinet next to her bed. She took her duel disk, which already had her deck in it, and went to the door. She opened it, to find Seth standing there, hands behind his back, in his usual attire.

"I'll accompany you. My presence was requested as well," said Seth, motioning with his hand, towards the elevator. She noticed he also had a duel disk attached to his arm. Yuki nodded to him, before getting out and closing the door behind her.

They went to the elevator and got in, as Seth pressed the button marked "T". "So… who's really in charge around here?" asked Yuki, breaking the silence, as there was no elevator music.

"What do you mean?" asked Seth, looking confusedly at her, with furrowed eyebrows.

Yuki looked for a second at him – he genuinely seemed like he didn't understand. "I mean, they seem to listen more to you, instead of… you know… their leader," she explained.

"Oh…" he said, looking back towards the elevator door, before shrugging. "I lead Ylliaster several times. Before… before some brothers came in charge, I lead them. After they perished, I was in charge again, up until Z-ONE came back. And then, after he too perished, they looked to me for guidance, so I lead them again. Now, that Rua is here, I've stepped back again," he explained, noticing her nod. "Leading Ylliaster is a pain in the ass, but it pays well, and that is an understatement. As for now being second in command, I don't mind it _at all_ … I prefer it that way, actually – much less decision-making," he added, with shrugged shoulders.

"Huh…" replied Yuki, understanding what he meant. _'I guess it is not that easy to give orders for such a huge organization…'_ she thought, just as the door opened, and they stepped out onto the roof.

As the door closed behind them, they noticed Rua sitting on the edge of the roof, looking towards the sea. "Hey, you called for me?" asked Yuki, getting his attention.

"Yeah," he said, getting up and going towards the two. "We need to train for the match against Yusei and Jack, so…" he said, going towards the edge of the building, "You two, against me, and after that, it'll be me and Seth, against you. Alright?" he explained, looking at the two of them, who shrugged.

"Not to offend you, or anything, sir, but you'll lose," said Seth, going to the far left from the elevator door, while Yuki went to the far right.

"We'll see about that," said Rua, grinning. "Duel!" they all said, before drawing five cards each.

 **Rua VS Seth & Yuki**  
 **4000 | 4000**  
 **5/6 | 5/6 & 5/6**  
 **35/40 | 35/40 & 35/40**

"Ladies first," said Rua, motioning towards Yuki.

Yuki drew a card, and now had six cards on her hand. _'Best guess: he has at least one Cyber Dragon in his hand, and needs me to summon a monster, so that he can special summon and normal summon at once… not going to happen,'_ she strategized, looking at her hand. _'Oh… this will do,'_ she said, still looking at the cards in her hand.

"I set three cards face-down," she said, before three cards appeared face-down, in front of her feet. "And with that, I end my turn," she added, grinning.

Rua VS Seth & Yuki  
4000 | 4000  
5/6 | 3/6 & 5/6  
35/40 | 34/40 & 35/40

Rua smiled at her for a second. "You thought I would summon Cyber Dragon, if you summon a monster, didn't you?" he asked, to which she nodded. "Good… you'll need that kind of thinking when we face Yusei and Jack," he added.

"Anyway… won't be enough," said Rua, grinning. "My turn; Draw!" he said, drawing a card from his deck, and now had six cards in his hand.

"I activate Polymerization," he declared, earning a confused look from Yuki.

' _Nowadays, people don't usually use Fusion Monsters…'_ thought Yuki.

"I fuse my two Cyber Ogres, and Fusion Summon Cyber Ogre 2," said Rua, as two metal humanoid creatures showed up on the field, before vanishing along with the Polymerization card. A bigger creature appeared which looked way more powerful than the ones that appeared seconds ago.

Cyber Ogre 2  
Level 7 / EARTH  
Machine / Fusion / Effect  
2600 ATK / 1900 DEF

"Oh, boy…" said Seth, looking at the behemoth. "That thing gains half the attack points of any monster it attacks, during the damage calculation, so…" he explained to Yuki, before looking back at the monster, "We'll need to destroy before it can attack," he added.

"Easier said than done, but alright," replied Yuki.

"That's not all," said Rua, getting a card from his hand cards and placing it on his duel disk. "I summon Cyber Phoenix," he said, before a winged machine appeared on the field.

Cyber Phoenix  
Level 4 / FIRE  
Machine / Effect  
1200 ATK / 1600 DEF

A few seconds passed by, before anyone said something, and it was Seth again, talking to Yuki. "I actually hoped one of these cards was Trap Hole… would've spared us a lot of trouble," he added, before turning his attention to the duel.

"According to the tag duel rules, I can't attack before everyone has had their first turn, so I set one card face-down and end my turn," he added, taking one card from his hand and placing it in one of the empty slots.

"It's my turn, draw!" said Seth, taking one card from his deck. _'A monster with more than 2600 attack points…'_ he said looking at the cards in his hand.

 **Rua VS Seth & Yuki**  
 **4000 | 4000**  
 **2/6 | 6/6 & 3/6**  
 **34/40 | 34/40 & 34/40**

"I send Level Eater from my hand to the graveyard, in order to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron," said Seth, before a Wild West-like warrior appeared on their side of the field.

Quickdraw Synchron  
Level 5 / WIND  
Machine / Tuner / Effect  
700 ATK / 1400 DEF

"Those two cards…" said Yuki, remembering that she read their names somewhere.

"I use some cards that are also used by Yusei Fudo," explained Seth to her, before looking back towards the field. "From my graveyard, I activate the effect of Level Stealer, which allows me to special summon it, as long as I decrease the level of one of my monsters by one," he explained as a bug emerged from inside the wild-western monster.

(Quickdraw Synchron: Level 5 - Level 4)

Level Stealer  
Level 1 / DARK  
Insect/Effect  
600 ATK / 0 DEF

"And since I haven't normal summoned yet, I summon Troop Commander," said Seth, before an armed warrior with two swords appeared on their side of the field.

Troop Commander  
Level 3 / EARTH  
Warrior / Effect  
1200 ATK / 400 DEF

Seth rolled up one of his sleeves before continuing. "Alright, Synchro Summon! I tune Quickdraw Synchron on Level Stealer and Troop Commander, in order to Synchro Summon Road Warrior!" he said before Quickdraw Synchron disintegrated into four white circles and the insect and the armed warrior turned to little white lights that went in-between the circles.

(Level 4 + Level 1 + Level 3 = Level 8)

Road Warrior  
Level 8 / LIGHT  
Warrior / Synchro / Effect  
3000 ATK / 1500 DEF

"That should be enough for now," said Seth, with a grin. "Seeing as I can't yet attack, I'll end my turn," he added.

"Then, it's my turn again," said Yuki, drawing a card from her deck.

 **Rua VS Seth & Yuki**  
 **4000 | 4000**  
 **2/6 | 3/6 & 4/6**  
 **34/40 | 34/40 & 33/40**

"Oh…" said Yuki, with a grin, as she looked at the card she just drew. "I activate all my trap cards!" she said, earning a confused look from both of them. "Skull Zoma, Embodiment of Apophis and Metal Reflect Slime!" she said as a zombie-like winged beast showed up, along with a metallic spiky slime ball, and a snake-like warrior with a shield and a sword.

Skull Zoma  
Level 4 / DARK  
Zombie / Effect  
1800 ATK / 500 DEF

Embodiment of Apophis  
Level 4 / EARTH  
Reptile  
1600 ATK / 1800 DEF

Metal Reflect Slime  
Level 10 / WATER  
Aqua / Effect  
0 ATK / 3000 DEF

"Trap monsters… interesting…" observed Seth, as the three monsters showed up suddenly in front of him.

"Oh, that's not good…" said Rua, knowing what was about to come.

"I sacrifice my three trap monsters, to summon Destiny Hero Plasma!" said Yuki as all the monsters that just appeared vanished into thin air and a larger behemoth took their place.

' _Not good, at all!'_ thought Rua, in a worry.

"I activate Plasma's effect, and target Cyber Ogre 2," said Yuki before the metallic giant was forced towards the winged behemoth.

"Not this time," said Rua, smiling. "I activate my set card, De-Fusion!" he declared before the metallic giant disappeared and the two human-like metallic beasts appeared instead.

2 X Cyber Ogre  
Level 5 / EARTH  
Machine / Effect  
1900 ATK / 1200 DEF

"Phew… that could've gone incredibly badly… And now your monster's effect is wasted," said Rua, relieved to still have monsters.

"Huh… didn't really expect that," admitted Yuki, her monster's wings drawn back. "Either way, Plasma, attack Cyber Phoenix!" she ordered as red rays streamed from the behemoths wings and hit the metallic bird, destroying it. "I set two cards face-down, and end my turn," she said, taking two cards from her hand and placing them in the empty slots.

"My turn; Draw!" said Rua, taking a card from his deck and adding it to his hand.

 **Rua VS Seth & Yuki**  
 **3300 | 4000**  
 **3/6 | 3/6 & 1/6**  
 **33/40 | 34/40 & 33/40**

' _That could've gone far, far worse,'_ he thought, looking at his cards. _'I need to get an advantage before Seth gets his turn,'_ he said, taking one card from his hand and placing it on one of the slots.

"I tribute one of my Cyber Ogres, to summon Cyber Dragon," said Rua as one of the humanoid metallic beasts vanished, and was replaced by the snake-like metallic dragon.

Cyber Dragon  
Level 5 / LIGHT  
Machine / Effect  
2100 ATK / 1600 DEF

"Next, I equip Cyber Ogre with United We Stand," said Rua, showing the card before placing it in one of the empty slots. "A monster equipped with United We Stand, gains 800ATK for every monster on my side of the field," he explained as the humanoid metallic beast got a glow.

(Cyber Ogre: 1900ATK+2*800ATK=1900ATK+1600ATK=3500ATK)

"Cyber Ogre, attack Road Warrior!" ordered Rua, before the humanoid metallic beast threw himself at the armored warrior and destroyed him. "There goes one," said Rua, smiling triumphantly. "And then…" he said, turning his gaze towards Yuki's ace-monster. "Cyber Dragon, destroy Plasma!" he ordered simply, as the snake-like metallic dragon shot a ray at the winged behemoth.

"Trap, activate!" said Yuki, as the card in front of her flipped face up. "Power Frame negates the attack and makes my monster's attack points, equal to yours," she said, as the winged behemoth got a soft glow.

(Destiny Hero Plasma: 1900ATK - 2100ATK)

Looking at Rua, she noticed he was still smiling triumphantly. "Your attack was negated, what's there to smile about?" she asked, confused.

"I activate Evolution Burst!" said Rua, holding up a card, as the snake-like dragon got a soft glow. "If I have a face-up Cyber Dragon, I can choose one of your cards and destroy it," he said, as the winged behemoth was torn to pieces. Looking at his opponents, he saw that Yuki was quite annoyed by this, while Seth seemed totally unfazed by it.

"Alright!" said Rua, grinning to himself; _'Two very powerful monsters defeated in one single turn!'_ he thought. "I end my turn," he said as the snake-like dragon lost its glow.

"You shouldn't get too confident, sir," said Seth, before drawing a card from his deck. "My turn!" said Seth, adding the card he drew to his hand, and taking another card from his hand instead.

 **Rua VS Seth & Yuki**  
 **3300 | 3500**  
 **1/6 | 4/6 & 1/6**  
 **33/40 | 33/40 & 33/40**

"I activate Monster Reborn!" said Seth, holding up the card.

"Oh, come on!" said Rua, a bit annoyed.

"I summon back Road Warrior!" said Seth as the warrior in heavy robotic armor reappeared on his side of the field.

Road Warrior  
Level 8 / LIGHT  
Warrior / Synchro / Effect  
3000 ATK / 1500 DEF

"That's just the beginning, though… considering that I control Road Warrior – a Synchro monster, I can activate Synchro Blast Wave, and target your Cyber Ogre," said Seth before the humanoid metallic beast was blown to pieces, and the spell card that was attached to it, along with it.

"Cyber… Ogre…" said Rua, holding his hand towards the space where his monster was a few seconds ago.

"I now activate Road Warrior's effect, which allows me to summon a level two or lower Warrior or Machine type monster directly from my deck, and I choose the level one, Warrior type Boost Warrior," he said as a man with armor and huge hands appeared on his field.

Boost Warrior  
Level 1 / FIRE  
Warrior/Effect  
300 ATK / 200 DEF

"I did tell you that you'd lose, sir," said Seth, looking at the cards in his hand, before continuing. "I still haven't normal summoned this turn, so now I can summon Command Knight," he said as an armored warrior appeared on his side of the field.

Command Knight  
Level 4 / FIRE  
Warrior / Effect  
1200 ATK / 1900 DEF

"And, as you might have already guessed, that was not all," he added noticing Yuki staring in awe. "While Command Knight is on the field, every Warrior-type monster gets 400ATK, _and_ while Boost Warrior is on the field, every Warrior-type monster gets 300ATK, so in total, each of my monsters gets 700ATK," he said as all of his monsters got a glow.

(Command Knight: 1200ATK+700ATK=1900ATK)  
(Boost Warrior: 300ATK+700ATK=1000ATK)  
(Road Warrior: 3000ATK+700ATK=3700ATK)

"I told you, warrior swarming is a hell of a strategy, _sir_ ," said Seth, with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," said Rua, a bit annoyed.

"Road Warrior, attack Cyber Dragon," said Seth, and with that, the robotic warrior launched his assault at the snake-like metallic dragon, destroying it, and dealing a blow to Rua. "Command Knight, end this!" he said before his the warrior wearing Middle Age clothes attacked Rua with his sword, giving him another blow, bringing his life points down to zero.

 **Rua VS Seth & Yuki**  
 **0 | 3500**  
 **1/6 | 1/6 & 1/6**  
 **33/40 | 32/40 & 33/40**

"Damn it!" said Rua, putting the cards he had in his graveyard and hand back in his deck, which was shuffled automatically.

"It is not wise to be a sore loser, sir," replied Seth, doing the same.

"I first liked being called 'sir', but now it honestly seems like just a derogatory term," said Rua, before sighing. "That was good, though," he said, with a smile towards Seth, who just nodded.

"Why don't you take him to duel the two, instead of me?" asked Yuki, placing her cards back into her deck, before it was shuffled by itself.

"Well, unlike you, I can't convince him to risk dying, and all that," said Rua, sarcastically.

"Right…" said Yuki, before taking Rua's place.

* * *

Back at the Tops, Ruka was already up, and so was Yusei. "Want to go eat something?" said Yusei, noticing Ruka come out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, I guess," said Ruka, a bit reluctantly.

They both got on Yusei's D-Wheel, which was still there from last night, and headed off to the nearest restaurant which was just a few blocks away from the Tops.

"Seems like a nice place," said Yusei, opening the door for Ruka.

They both entered and sat down on an empty table. "Yeah, we sometimes come here, when we're bored of cornflakes and omelets," said Ruka, looking at the waiter, who was making his way towards them.

"Good morning! What would you like to order?" asked the waiter, as soon as he arrived at the table.

"Morning, Ryoji. Just some funa-zushi for me," said Ruka, smiling at the waiter politely.

"Eh… just a hamburger for me," added Yusei, before the waiter nodded and went to the kitchen.

A few moments of silence passed by, before Yusei broke the silence. "Ruka, look –" started Yusei, but was interrupted by Ruka.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Yusei," interrupted Ruka, with closed eyes. "I already know," she said, opening her eyes, but still avoiding Yusei's eyes. "There's no avoiding it," she said with a tired smile.

"We don't know that!" said Yusei, trying to seem determined. "If we could find out more about the Crimson Dragon, and what we can do with our marks, there might still be a chance," he argued.

"Except that we can't. The few ones that might actually have known – the Goodwin brothers and Z-ONE – are gone. As for researching it, Rua and I looked up everything there was on the internet about it as soon as we found out what it's called, which wasn't much – mostly guesses and stories," said Ruka, before sighing. "We are its chosen ones, so _we_ should be the ones to know all about it," she added, with a bit of a frustrated look.

Yusei nodded, being a bit frustrated about that, himself. At times, it really seemed that everyone, except them, knew what the Crimson Dragon was all about. "But if we can't find a way to –" started Yusei, but was interrupted by Ruka again.

"We'll have to face him – the less people are hurt because of this, the better, so… win, Yusei," finished Ruka, with no hint of emotion in her voice.

"Ruka…" replied Yusei, not even knowing how to reply to that.

"If you and Jack can't defeat him, he'll come after the rest of us, so…" said Ruka, thinking of a better way to say it. "Don't do it to defeat him, do it to protect us!" she said with watery eyes, just as the waiter came with their order. She quickly wiped off her eyes, before putting one of her hands into her pockets, and clearing her throat.

"Here you go," said the waiter with a smile, putting the dishes down on the table, noticing Ruka wipe her eyes. "Is everything alright?" asked the waiter, looking sternly at Yusei.

Ruka got a card from her pocket and handed it to the waiter, "Yeah, it's fine," she said, trying to keep a polite smile. The waiter looked again at Yusei, before taking the card Ruka was still holding in her hands and heading back to the counter.

Yusei looked at Ruka for a second – was she literally saying what he thinks she was saying. "We both know that Jack was right… This is what Ylliaster does, and worst of all, we don't even know what they're up to now," explained Ruka, making Yusei's eyes widen.

Yusei sighed, and thought for a few seconds before talking again. "I haven't even thought about that yet…" he admitted, staring at his food. "Alright…" he said, earning a surprised look from Ruka. "Maybe I haven't been thinking things through lately. If you all think that this is what needs to be done, I'll do it," he said reluctantly.

"Good… I guess," replied Ruka, looking at her own food. "Well… itadakimasu," she said taking the chopsticks that came with the meal.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jack was hanging out with Crow at their garage. They recently had gotten a table for putting drinks on it, and whatnot, but right now, it was all covered with Jack's cards.

"Do you think Speed Spell – Half Seize would work well with Yusei's deck?" said Jack looking at one of the cards. On the table, there were most of the cards he ever had, and a little stack of cards he had already decided on. Jack looked at Crow, noticing a bit of a confused look – apparently he forgot what the card does. "It halves the attack points of one monster – any monster – which is face-up on the field, and adds it to mine," he explained rather reluctantly.

Crow nodded first. "That card would probably work in any case, but it's a card meant for decks that rely on defense and adding life points, so not sure how well it would do in yours, since yours is basically… not that," he said turning his attention away again. Jack shrugged, and put the card on the stack.

"What if you lose?" asked Crow after a few seconds of silence passed by, already expecting Jack to boast.

"I won't! Jack Atlas doesn't lose!" boasted Jack, looking like he didn't even know the word 'lose'.

"Except to Yusei, Andre, Brave and Jose," commented Crow, making Jack clench his fists.

"You lost against Jose too, and against Yusei more times than I can count, so shut up!" replied Jack, a bit frustrated.

Crow thought about arguing further, but decided to drop it as he saw no point to it. "Do you think he'll be there?" asked Crow, looking towards the ceiling as he was already lying down on the couch.

"He probably doesn't get a say in that," answered Jack, adding two more cards to the stack.

"What do you mean?" asked Crow, not fully understanding.

"Oh, I don't know," said Jack sarcastically, "Maybe because the Crimson Dragon is now involved and apparently we were declared war on, but you know, just a guess," he added. "Sonic Booster… should come in handy," he said adding another card to the stack. "Speed Fusion… not so much," he said, discarding one card he just picked up.

"You shouldn't be too hard on him – he just doesn't want to fight against a friend," said Crow, trying to understand Yusei.

"Neither do I, but unlike him, I know that there's no way around it. Haven't you learned that, by now?" asked Jack rhetorically, adding his ace-monsters Red Demon's Dragon and Scar-red Nova Dragon to the stack.

A few seconds of silence passed before Crow spoke again. "I guess I should get my deck ready too, huh?" he said, getting up.

Jack got a bit of a confused look. "Why? This is about us, against Rua," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but you'll probably lose, so…" said Crow intentionally.

"You…" replied Jack, getting up angrily. "I don't lose. If you look up Jack Atlas in the dictionary, you'll see that it's 'someone that doesn't lose'!" he said, clenching a fist in front of his chest.

"That is… except to a handful of people," added Crow, running away, leaving an angry Jack behind.

"Just you wait 'till I finish this," he said angrily, sitting back down to continue picking the cards for his deck.

* * *

 **N/A: Review if you have anything to comment on the story – especially the duel, whether there's any mistake in it. I don't** _ **think**_ **there were mistakes in the duel, but there might've been. So, if you see any, be sure to mention it, m'kay? One more thing, Ruka's… eh… agreement to the thing, might have been a bit fast, and that _is_ an understatement, but it was so that the story would move forward faster, so that might have caused some OOCness, but can't do much about that.  
** **Bye.**

 **P.S. Forgot... Merry Christmas!**


End file.
